Conjugated polymer-based apparatuses, articles and compounds

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed to conjugated polymers, their manufacture and their implementations. As may be implemented in connection with one or more embodiments, an apparatus includes a conjugated polymer and a side chain or end chain material connected to the conjugated polymer. The amount and makeup of the side chain or end chain enhance solubility of the resulting modified conjugated polymer, relative to the conjugated polymer itself.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus comprising:
 a conjugated polymer; and 
 another material attached to the conjugated polymer as a side chain or an end chain, the conjugated polymer being configured and arranged with the other material at a molar ratio that provides a degree of solubility in a solution of the conjugated polymer as attached to the other material that is higher than a solubility of the conjugated polymer in the solution without the other material attached thereto and mitigates changes in conductivity of the conjugated polymer, wherein the other material includes at least one of an oligomeric substituent, polymeric substituent, and polystyrene coupled to the conjugated polymer via random copolymerization. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer is configured and arranged with the other material at a molar ratio and a miscibility that provide a homogeneous distribution of conductivity throughout a structure including the conjugated polymer and the other material. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer is configured and arranged with the other material to mitigate changes in conductivity of the conjugated polymer of greater than about 5%. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer is configured and arranged with the other material to provide a degree of solubility in the solution that is higher than a solubility of the conjugated polymer without the other material attached thereto in the solution, by a factor of at least 50%. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer is configured and arranged with the other material to mitigate changes in conductivity of the conjugated polymer of greater than about 5%, and to provide a degree of solubility that is higher than a solubility of the conjugated polymer without the other material attached thereto, by a factor of at least 50%. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the degree of solubility of the conjugated polymer that is higher than the solubility of the conjugated polymer is twice the solubility of the conjugated polymer without the other material attached thereto. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer and the other material are configured as printable material, and further including an optoelectronic structure including the conjugated polymer and the other material. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the apparatus further includes, and the optoelectronic structure forms a component of, at least one of: a solar cell collector, a photovoltaic electrode; an organic BHJ solar cell; a semi-conductive material configured and arranged to form part of a selectively-conductive switch or transistor; a polymer solar cell; and a field effect transistor. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer is an isoindigo-based conjugated polymer, and wherein the other material includes one of a linear siloxane chain and a linear polystyrene end chain. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer is an isoindigo-based conjugated polymer, and wherein the other material is a linear polystyrene end chain. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer and the other material are configured and arranged to control a size of the side or end chain based upon a radius of gyration of the conjugated polymer while in solution and in a solid state. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the conjugated polymer includes one of a poly(isoindigo-dithiophene) based polymer, diketopyrrolopyrrole-based polymer, naphthalene diimide-based polymer, and fused thiophene based polymer. 
 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer and the side chain or end chain form a thin film having charge transport characteristics and in which the side chain or end chain makes up about 3-35% of the molar content of the apparatus, therein mitigating alteration of the charge transport characteristics upon coupling of the side chain or end chain and the conjugated polymer. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer and the side chain or end chain are cooperatively configured and arranged with a viscosity in the solution that is less than a viscosity of the conjugated polymer in the solution, absent the side chain or end chain. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the other material includes both the side chain and the end chain, wherein the side chain includes a monomer and the end chain includes an end-capping reagent. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the conjugated polymer and the other material are configured and arranged to provide limit changes in electrical conductivity of the conjugated polymer within a tolerance of about 5%. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 1 , further including polystyrene material attached to the conjugated polymer. 
     
     
       18. An organic photovoltaic apparatus comprising:
 a semiconductor material including a conjugated polymer and at least one of a side chain and an end chain connected to the conjugated polymer, and configured and arranged with a molar ratio that provides a degree of solubility in a solution of the conjugated polymer as attached to the side or end chain that is higher than a solubility in the solution of the conjugated polymer without the side or end chain attached thereto, and 
 a collector configured and arranged to collect charge carriers from the semiconductor material. 
 
     
     
       19. An apparatus comprising:
 a conjugated polymer; and 
 another material attached to the conjugated polymer as a side chain or an end chain, the other material including at least one of an oligomeric substituent, polymeric substituent, and polystyrene coupled to the conjugated polymer via random copolymerization, and the conjugated polymer being configured and arranged with the other material:
 at a molar ratio that provides a degree of solubility in a solution of the conjugated polymer as attached to the other material that is higher than a solubility in the solution of the conjugated polymer without the other material attached thereto; 
 at a molar ratio and a miscibility that provide a homogeneous distribution of conductivity throughout a structure including the conjugated polymer and the other material; and 
 to mitigate changes in conductivity of the conjugated polymer of greater than about 5%, and to provide a degree of solubility that is higher than a solubility of the conjugated polymer without the other material attached thereto, by a factor of at least 50%.